Supports: Stahl & Sumia
by TheTacticianAlchemist
Summary: Sumia has a way with animals, and Stahl is more than just "average." [cross-posted on tumblr and ao3.]


C

"Oh?" Stahl turns and smiles at his fellow Shepherd. "Fancy meeting you here, Sumia," he jokes lightly.

"Hello, Stahl," Sumia says cheerily. She scratches her pegasus behind the ear and gives it a quick warning not to fly off before she lets it wander off in the small field next to where they've made camp. She smiles and goes to stand beside Stahl as she watches her mount trot over toward his stallion. "They look like they would make good friends."

Stahl chuckles when his horse jumps like a foal and nips at the pegasus. "If that's what you want to call it." They're both quiet for a comfortable moment as they watch their partners enjoy a well-deserved break, and then he asks, "What's it like to ride a pegasus? Just wondering."

Sumia's eyes light up. "It's amazing. You feel like nothing can get you when you're so high up. You feel…graceful."

Stahl glances at her and smiles at her expression. Coming from her of all people, "graceful" is an unexpected word, but a welcome word nonetheless. "That sounds nice," he says, completely genuine.

"It is." She clasps her hands together and she's suddenly much closer to him, looking up at him in earnest. "You really must try it, Stahl. You'll never want to come down."

"Ah…" He raises his hands and backs away half a step. "Maybe another time? I'm quite fine on my horse, thank you very much. Besides… Pegasi look like they're a bumpy ride."

"Nonsense, it's no trouble once you get used to it." But she smiles and relents, saying, "You're welcome to try anytime, Stahl. I'll teach you."

Her sincere expression and sparkling eyes make his stomach jolt a little. "Okay," he agrees, smiling, but he silently questions himself on what he's gotten into.

B

"I'm so sorry!" Sumia blubbers, her words almost incoherent as she cries.

Stahl's arm hurts like hell even after Lissa helped him out with her healing staff, but Sumia's guilt is far more pressing. "It's only a fracture, it'll heal. Don't worry about me."

Sumia sniffs and tries to wipe away her tears. "This is all my fault. I should have triple-checked the bindings on the saddle. Then you wouldn't have fallen!"

"It was an honest mistake, Sumia." He puts his good hand on her shoulder. "You double-checked the saddle, all right? And I should have told you I don't do that well with heights."

She sniffles a little more, and she can't look him in the eye. "I'm a terrible teacher, Stahl. I thought flight instruction would be the one thing I could do, but just like with everything else, I missed it up. I-!"

Stahl frowns. "Stop that, Sumia."

She pauses.

"You have a wonderful way with animals, Sumia," he says seriously. "Pegasi don't like men. She would have kicked me off first thing if you hadn't been there to calm her down enough. And thanks to you, I actually got to fly for a little while." He smiles. "Overall, the ride was…bumpy to say the least, but there was a moment where I looked out and saw the horizon… I felt graceful. Thank you for sharing that with me."

Somewhere in the middle of his words, Sumia stopped crying. She stopped sniffling, too. And now a small, shy smile breaks out onto her face.

"Thank you, Stahl. I needed to hear that."

He holds back a sigh of relief. "No need for thanks."

A

"Sumia?" Stahl stops as he leads his stallion along the path toward the river. The pegasus knight has tied her mount to a tree to keep it still while she checks it over. "Is something wrong?"

"Stahl?" Sumia turns to look at him, and he immediately sees the worry in her expression. "I-I think Daisy has colic!"

The cavalier's eyes widen, and he hurries to tie his horse's reins to the saddle and moves to stand beside Sumia. He feels the pegasus's body, starting with its muzzle, then its neck, then flank and stomach. The poor thing is sweating, flaring its nostrils and pawing at the ground.

"This could be bad," Stahl murmurs. "Wait here," he tells Sumia, and then he rushes to mount his stallion. "Burdock and I will be right back.

()()()

"Oh gods, Stahl, thank you so much!" Sumia exclaims, embracing him tightly.

Stahl blushes, and he can't help but hug her back. "No worries. I'm glad Daisy is all right."

Sumia pulls away and smiles brightly, looking back toward the small field. Now that her pegasus has had some rest and care, it's prancing a little bit, playing with Stahl's mount. "How did you know what to give her? I only know of the medicines that the knight sisters kept in stock."

"My family runs an apothecary," Stahl explains. "Since I joined the Shepherds, I've had to study a bit to modify the herbs if I need to take care of horses, since we're so different. But I'm glad I did. I would have felt terrible if Daisy couldn't get better."

"I don't know what I would have done," Sumia agrees. Her cheeks tint pink. "You're amazing, Stahl."

He waves his hands. "Oh no, it's nothing. I'm just average."

Sumia—without warning—rounds on him. "No, you're not!"

Stahl jumps a little. "S-Sumia?"

"Don't call yourself 'average,'" Sumia says, and he's never seen her frown like this. "You're incredibly nice, brave, and smart, too! You've helped me so much, too. So don't say you're 'average,' all right? You're much better than that."

Stahl can only stare at her for a moment, and then he nods, smiling determinedly. "Thank you, Sumia. I won't."

Sumia smiles sweetly. "Good."

S

"Thank you, Daisy," Sumia says, dismounting her pegasus and moving to the saddlebag. She spots Stahl in the distance; he waves, then spurs his horse and stars riding toward her. Sumia feels her skin heat up. She fumbles a little with the saddlebag, but successfully retrieves what she was looking for: a knife, two forks, and a carefully, securely-wrapped pie.

"Sumia!" Stahl rides up and slows to a stop. He's grinning from ear to ear. Then he notices what she has in her hands. "What do you have there?"

"Ah, well…pie." She holds it out. "I wanted to properly thank you. I thought we could share."

"Oh… Thank you." Stahl points to a small spot in the field. "We can let the horses—er, horse and pegasus—roam free after we take off their saddles and let them have a break, too."

Sumia smiles, and they do just that. Once their mounts wander off, she grabs a thin blanket from her saddlebag and lays it out on the grass. The two sit, and she can't help but giggle at how Stahl practically drools when she unwraps the pie. She carefully cuts it, then puts the pieces on small plates. She gives Stahl a particularly large slice, and he thanks her profusely before digging in.

She eats her pie slowly, keeping her eyes on him. He doesn't seem to notice in the face of such delicious blueberry pie.

She's glad, but when he finishes, her eyes widen.

"S-Stahl," she says, trying to keep her smile light, but he frowns at the sight nonetheless. "Um, did you like it? It's not…too crunchy? Or…?"

He shakes his head. "No, it's perfect."

"Uh…" Hurriedly, Sumia mashes her fork through her slice of pie. All she manages to do is make a bit of a squishy mess on her plate.

"Sumia?" Stahl asks, but she lets out some sort of squeak and shovels her hands into the rest of the pie.

"S-Sumia?!" Stahl's mouth drops open, because this is like sacrilege, but she just keeps meshing her fingers around in the warm blueberry pie and, panicked, muttering, "Where is it, where is it, I put it in here…"

Stahl is about to grab her hands to stop her, but then he notices something drop out of her pocket. He reaches to pick it up, and when it's in his palm and he realizes what it is, his eyes widen.

"Um, Sumia?"

"It's not here!"

"Sumia…" He grabs her wrist to stop her, then holds out his palm for her to look. "Is this what you're looking for?"

"The ring!" Sumia withdraws her now-filthy hands from the pie and grabs the ring; she freezes, her hand resting on his.

She hangs her head. "I got it messy…!"

Stahl hesitates. "…Then what was the point of wanting to put in in the pie?"

"I was going to surprise you!" she says, too embarrassed to look at him. "I was going to surprise you and say things like, 'After the war, let's take care of horses and pegasi together' or something like that…."

He grips her blueberry-stained hand, the ring between their palms. "Do you really want to do that?"

"Of course I do!" Finally, she looks up at him. Her eyes are wet from her earlier panic, but they're so sincere it takes his breath away. "You make me feel important, Stahl, and needed. I… I love you! I want to marry you!"

Stahl grabs her other hand, intertwining his fingers with hers, and kisses her full on the mouth. Sumia freezes, then relaxes into the kiss and squeezes his hands.

He pulls away, smiling widely. "I want to marry you, too." He leans his forehead against hers. "I love you."

Sumia giggles. "Do I make you happy?"

"Very much," he says. "Much more than 'average.'"

They both laugh, and Stahl is about to kiss her again when something whacks him in the head. He hisses a little and looks up to find that their mounts have come back; Sumia's pegasus hit him in the head with its muzzle.

"Calm down, Daisy," Sumia soothes. "Stahl's being nice."

The pegasus just snorts and paws at the ground. Stahl's stallion nickers.

Stahl laughs, then takes the ring and holds it up between them. "Now, we should probably get cleaned up so we can put these on."

"'These '?"

"I bought one for you, too."


End file.
